Treasurer’s Office participates in Donate Life Month

The ladies of the Clarke County Treasurer’s Office have joined the Iowa Donor Network in inspiring Iowans to “donate life” this April for National Donate Life Month (NDLM).

Observed each year during the months of April, NDLM sees organizations across the nation celebrate transplant recipients, bring awareness to those who are still waiting on the transplant list and honor donors and their families.

2023′s NDLM theme is “Make a Splash,” and was inspired by ponds coming to life in the spring. According to NDLM’s website, frogs and toads are “a sign of healing and renewal, and water lilies represent hope. The lily pads we see on the surface of a pond are part of a much larger plant rooted below the water. The water lily plant reminds us of the support and collaboration needed for hope to bloom.”

While 2022 saw a record number of lives saved through the donation of organs and tissue, the number of those still waiting on donations far surpasses the number of donors.

“Right now there are more than 100,000 people waiting for a life saving organ transplant, including 600 right here in Iowa,” said Heather Butterfield, Executive Director for Communications for Iowa Donor Network in an interview with CBS Iowa. “The best way for us to save more lives and decrease that waiting list is to encourage as many people as possible to become organ and tissue donors.”

Any resident in Iowa can be an organ donor. To register, Iowans over 18 can visit the Iowa Donor Network at IowaDonorNetwork.org, organize.com for the national registry database or stop by the Clarke County Driver’s License and Vehicle Registration office located in the courthouse.

There are no fees to be an organ donor. There is no age limit, and medical history will not automatically exclude someone from being eligible for organ donation.

How donation works

At the time of death, the Iowa Donor Network - the only Organ Pro-cure-ment Orga-ni-za-tion in the state - will be notified. Then, they will determine if the person is suitable for organ donation. If the donor is found to be suitable, the Iowa Donor Network contacts the family to let them know of the donor’s wishes, and begins the process of carrying out donation by checking the national transplant list for the best match.

Finding a match includes looking at blood type, body size, sickness of the person, distance from the donor, tissue type and length of time on the waiting list. Age, gender, race and income are not factors when deciding who gets the donation. Organs and tissues that can donated include the heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas, intestines, corneas, skin, bone/tendons, heart valves and blood vessels/veins.

A person can also be a living donor by donating part of or a whole organ to someone else. Such donations would be a kidney, lobe of a lung, section of the liver, or portions of the pancreas or intestine. Types of living donation include related, non-related, non-direct-ed and paired exchange.

Donation by the numbers

• One donor can save the lives of up to eight people through organ donation, and help more than 300 people through tissue and eye donation.

• Over 106,000 people in the United Stated are waiting for a life-saving transplant.

• About 17 people die each day waiting for an organ transplant.

• A new name is added to the national transplant waiting list every nine minutes.

• 1.6 million Iowans are registered donors.

• 58% of Americans aged 18 and older are registered donors, with one in three deceased donors being over the age of 50.

• The number of transplants each year for organs is over 41,000, eyes over 85,000 and tissue over 2.5 million.

• As of February 1 2022, the following number of organs and tissue are being waited on by Iowans:

-Heart – 23

-Lungs – 12

-Liver – 36

-Kidney – 518

-Kidney/Pancreas – 20

-Pancreas – 2

More information

More information about donation and ways to help can be found on the Iowa Donor Network’s website, IowaDonorNetwork.org.